by Nicole Auerbach, USA TODAY Sports

by Nicole Auerbach, USA TODAY Sports

BROOKLYN, N.Y. â?? The most hyped freshman in the nation had completed the most anticipated debut of the 2012-13 college basketball season, but he wasn't happy.

Shabazz Muhammad walked into the postgame news conference and sat between his coach and a teammate, keeping his gaze down on the table in front of him.

No smiles, even though he'd finally been able to play a college basketball game after months of being in eligibility limbo. No smiles, even though he'd scored 15 points. No smiles, because you don't smile after your team loses to an unranked opponent.

Yes, even with the consensus top recruit of his class on the court, No. 13 UCLA fell to Georgetown in the semifinal of the Legends Classic Monday night. The Bruins will face Georgia, who lost to No. 1 Indiana earlier Monday, in Tuesday's consolation game.

For Muhammad, this whole tournament will be bittersweet. Obviously, he's glad to be reinstated, but losing to a team like Georgetown and missing an opportunity to face the nation's top-ranked team hurt.

"It doesn't feel good inside," Muhammad said. "I really wanted to get a shot at them but knowing we really aren't ready yet. We're going to practice and get this together. We're going to be a really good team."

Muhammad knows what he needs most is time with his teammates. He said he was trying to learn how to gel with them on the court Monday night, his first real game experience after being ruled ineligible due to violations of NCAA amateurism rules just before UCLA's season opener. Muhammad was reinstated Friday night, a week after the season officially began.

As part of Muhammad's reinstatement, the NCAA required Muhammad to sit out three games (retroactively applied to UCLA's first three games of the season) and pay back approximately $1,600 of what it deemed impermissible benefits related to unofficial visits he took to Duke and North Carolina during his recruitment.

But the week's worth of games isn't all Muhammad has missed. He couldn't practice with the team most of the summer because of a high ankle sprain. He wasn't allowed to go to China with the team in August because of eligibility concerns. And he strained his shoulder in late October.

"I thought he did a good job, and I actually didn't plan to play him as many minutes as I did," UCLA coach Ben Howland said of Muhammad's 25 minutes. "He missed two-plus weeks because of his shoulder injury, and he couldn't really get a lot of conditioning in. I thought he did a very good job, considering.

"He's still got a lot of work to do to put in and catch up conditioning-wise, but he did a good job."

Muhammad agreed with his coach's assessment, and so did Georgetown coach John Thompson III.

"They're still meshing," Thompson said. "As much as Shabazz has been practicing with them, he hasn't been out there playing."

More games and practices will help Muhammad learn Howland's system and learn about his teammates. For Howland's sake, that better happen quickly. The Bruins coach needs a successful season, particularly after last year â?? a season of turmoil, frustration and even bad publicity, too, after a scathing Sports Illustrated piece questioning his ability to control players in his own program.

Landing a highly touted recruiting class helped Howland, but now those players have to go out and win him games. Freshman guard Jordan Adams scored 22 points Monday night, his fourth consecutive game in which he's scored at least 20. Kyle Anderson has shown flashes of talent, but he didn't score at all against the Hoyas, though he had seven blocks and six assists.

It will come down to Muhammad, though. Howland needs him to play big minutes â?? when he's conditioned â?? and make big shots â?? when he's more comfortable out there.

"It was really exciting to get down on the court for the first time even though I thought we didn't play that well," Muhammad said. "Just finally get the jitters out and getting out and playing college basketball for the first time.